Alvvays – Canada's finest export – returned in a blaze of glory (see Pitchfork's Best New Track) last month with lead single & track one "Pharmacist," off their highly anticipated new album, Blue Rev, out October 7. Today we get another glimpse of what's sure to be one of the best albums of the year with track two - "Easy On Your Own?". 

“How do I gauge whether this is stasis or change?” 

Molly Rankin sings during the first verse of the plangent and infectious song. In that moment, she pulls the ties tight between past, present, and future to ask hard questions about who we’re going to become, and how. Sure, it arrives a few years later than expected, but the answer for Alvvays is actually simple: They’ve changed gradually, growing on Blue Rev into one of our generation’s most complete and riveting rock bands. 

Watch below – 

At least the five-year wait was worthwhile: Blue Rev doesn't simply reassert what's always been great about Alvvays but instead reimagines it. They have, in part and sum, never been better. There are 14 songs on the Canadian band's third studio album, making it not only the longest Alvvays record but also the most harmonically rich and lyrically provocative. Pre-order your Early Bird copy now on Transparent Crystal (limited to 4000) from the Polyvinyl Store. 

Praise for "Pharmacist"…

"...a distinct emotional undertow, like a stirring dream that ends a little too soon" - The New York Times 

“Pharmacist” is overblown in all the right ways, with all the meticulously layered noise growing into a thicket around Rankin’s tender nostalgia." - Pitchfork 

"First single and album opener “Pharmacist” might as well be the Big Bang, exploding outward to form the beginnings of a new era of Alvvays." - Stereogum 

"The always-incredible Alvvays have returned after five long years with “Pharmacist" — a gloriously fuzzed-out blast of energy that spells good things for the band’s third album, Blue Rev. Drawing from the high-energy, “Lollipop”/”Hey”/”Saved By A Waif” side of the band’s catalog, it’s a very welcome, and pleasingly unexpected, comeback." - Paper 

"complete with a frenetic and exciting guitar solo to cap off what can only be described as a fantastic set-up for this long-awaited album cycle" - Uproxx 

"From the sound of its jangly lead single, “Pharmacist,” it’s already looking to be a brilliant new page for the band" - Nylon